Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported on 9 February that North Korean workers were dispatched to various construction sites across Russia amid workforce shortages due to the ongoing war with Ukraine.
Yonhap reports that according to Radio Free Asia, citing Russia’s federal statistics service, 13,221 North Koreans entered Russia in 2024, representing a twelve-fold increase from the previous year. Of these entries, 7,887 individuals claimed educational purposes for their visits.
North Korea and Russia allegedly circumvented UN Security Council’s sanctions by using student visas for worker deployment, Yonhap says. These sanctions, implemented in response to North Korean weapons tests, prohibited sending nationals to work overseas and required all North Korean workers to return home by December 2019.
More Pyongyang-Moscow cooperation
North Korea is set to begin mass-producing drones co-developed with Russia this year, according to Japan’s NHK, which cites sources familiar with the matter. The agreement allows North Korea to receive Russian technical assistance for developing multiple drone models, aligning with their 2024 strategic partnership treaty.
The deal underscored the growing military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, as Russia looks for additional weapons for its war in Ukraine while North Korea seeks advanced military technology. Sources suggest this cooperation is linked to North Korea’s plans to send troops to support Russia’s invasion, though Moscow remains opposed to assisting Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
Related:
- ISW: Russia expands military forces, signaling no interest in peace talks with Ukraine
- NHK: North Korea built a drone with Russian help, mass production starts this year
- Zelenskyy confirms North Korean forces’ new deployment to Russia’s Kursk Oblast
- Reuters: Russians achieve higher precision with North Korean missiles in Ukraine
- Ukrainian drones devastated North Korean troops in Kursk. That might be exactly what Kim wanted
- Russia says Ukrainian forces expand its Kursk Oblast offensive, seizing more villages